In 2017, our WE College opened its doors with programs designed to train graduates for jobs in demand in the local market. The students — many the first in their families to graduate from high school — represent truly sustainable impact. Economic development is impossible without human development.

Sustainability, long a favorite buzzword in development circles, is usually thought of in tandem with financial viability, long-term endowments or physical assets. It needs to be more than that. The World Bank launched the Human Capital Project in 2017, betting big on people to drive the next generation of growth. Infrastructure is only scalable if people are capable of running it.

That is how the development sector can match the need across the Global South. No single charity or development organization can build enough schools, dig enough boreholes or train enough doctors. But we can build capacity for the people we are there to serve, empowering them to take the reins.

We have begun to think of our education program as a pipeline for students, from preschool to their first job. That’s why our organization currently operates schools of nursing, agriculture, mechanics and tourism — the first programs identified by locals and market research as the most viable, impactful careers. Future plans for schools of civil engineering, clinical medicine, community health, education and more are in the works. These programs, designed with local needs assessments, help combat brain drain, empowering those who want to stay with an education that opens doors to good jobs in their communities.

I believe this is the new model of scalable development the World Bank is calling for, shifting the focus from physical capital — like roads, bridges and airports — to investments in health and education. In April, the World Bank backed up the idea with resources: $15 billion in new financing as part of the Africa Human Capital Plan. The plan outlines key areas of investment including initiatives designed to prevent early marriage and pregnancy, and expand access to education in rural communities.

Giving Compass' Take:
· Writing for the Christensen Institute, Efosa Ojomo explains how the USAID DIV program is investing in innovators to eliminate global poverty and promote longterm, sustainable prosperity.
· How are investments by the USAID DIV program addressing poverty? How can other aid programs from wealthy countries follow the USAID DIV model and catalyze global development?
· Learn how design thinking is helping with efforts to end poverty.
If the U.S. funded international development projects like venture capital investments, we might begin to see vast improvements in global prosperity, which would result in significant poverty reduction.
There’s no time like the present, especially when you consider that the budget for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was slashed by more than 30% to $15.4 billion in 2018. If more countries go the way of the United States and slash their foreign aid budgets, this could lead to significant setbacks for many poor countries. As such, development professionals must become more impactful with their dollars. The USAID Development Innovation Ventures (USAID DIV) program, which funds local innovators with the potential to scale their innovations so that it can impact millions of people, provides a compelling example of a framework that has the potential to fast-track the development process in many poor countries.
Read the full article about eliminating global poverty by Efosa Ojomo at the Christensen Institute.

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